24th december, 12:58 pm
In a city now completely destroyed, and with only a few buildings and tall buildings left that were about to collapse along with the wreckage to the ground, a tall man sitting on the roof of a residential building, smiled strangely as he poured a mug full of beer, in his mouth.
''Then that's it? Is this the end of this whole atrocious story?'', he uttered without emotion, taking another brusque swig from the huge mug in his hands. ''Honestly, it's not quite what I expected from an explosive climax to the plot.''
Around him, some metallic objects painted with a strong blue paint, floated non-stop - they seemed to be drones, monitoring their surroundings, or even the man himself, who didn't seem to care about the presence of the technological devices.
He wore a black outfit from head to toe, with some gold trimmings at the ends of the outfit. It was also notable that his face was covered by some sort of mask molded from an unknown material, and various devices were attached to each corner of his body, probably having been placed there to aid him in what he was going to do.
Looking down, without changing the position of his eyes, cold and serene like Mount Everest, which were glued towards what was once a busy street full of innocent people, returning from their jobs, going to school, plus many other things. Now the place was nothing but a decrepit spot, abandoned and bloodstained on all sides.
Corpses were piled on top of each other so that they formed a small mountain of dead people. The shops and houses of the place, once vivid and full of animation, now had the sight of decapitated beings and all objects destroyed, with no chance of having survived whatever had happened there.
It was definitely sick.
There was no other word to describe it all. The urge to vomit was inevitable, that is, for healthy individuals m.
"Hmm", the man muttered silently, taking the last swig from his mug and flinging it away as he finished drinking his refreshing beer.
Even if it was still afternoon, many would have the impression that night had already arrived. It was a dark place, totally disastrous and psychotic, that certainly would drive any ordinary person crazy in a matter of mere seconds.
Despite all this, the mysterious man was smiling from ear to ear, as if he were observing one of the most beautiful paradise landscapes in the world.
''We did a good job on the way, huh?''
He nodded in agreement with what he had just said. Satisfied and happy, he rose calmly from the edge of the slab he was using as a seat, revealing behind him countless other victims of that brutal massacre in the poor town he used as a temporary base.
The boy lightly patted the suit covering his body, cleaning it of the dust that the clothes had absorbed due to the debris rising to the heavens. As he did so, the structure of the building he was standing on creaked deafeningly as the lad inched forward a little and put one foot off the support surface, letting himself lean forward.
"Well, I'm the last one on the front line now…", exclaimed, lifting his left forearm and checking the exact time, through a holographic image that emerged from one of the devices on his clothing. ''Let's finish this as soon as possible. I'm tired of all this bullshit.''
Then, as soon as he finished speaking, he instantly jumped off the tall building, without hesitating for a second. The young man examined his surroundings calmly, thinking about how he would face what was about to arrive at his location.
The building behind him -- which had previously been used as a resting place by himself --, made another loud noise as its supporting pillars snapped in half, letting it fall like a piece of paper into the open. Moreover, even though all this was going on, the lad didn't budge a little, keeping his expression impassive as he approached the ground closer and closer.
''The bastard is already here.''
The boy with the covered face spoke, stopping abruptly in mid-air and flying ahead, as if it was something extremely natural for him. Inside his head, a whistle similar to a security facility alarm sounded nonstop - it was warning the man that Titan, the last living hero, was coming in his direction in a hurry.
It was no surprise to him. They were some of the last survivors of that catastrophe that took the lives of several comrades on both sides. So it was easy to assume that whoever would come to stop Thanatos would be the Titan himself, personally and in the flesh.
"Okay, come at me, motherfucker."
A figure slashed through the orange-yellow sky at frightening speed, therefore in the blink of an eye, it was standing in front of Thanatos, just a few steps away from the masked guy. The silhouette stared at Thanatos, with his red eyes, sharp as a hawk watching its prey, without any evident fear.
Engulfed in gleaming silver armor, a yellowish-black cape, thus armed solely and exclusively with his own fists -- given that his sword had not yet been taken from its leather scabbard attached to the utility belt at Titan's waist.
The absolute supremacy of power and appearance, was what could describe that man described in myths and legends around the planet. That was the apex of all mortal species, right before the eyes of their greatest enemy.
''Thanatos, you piece of shit. I came just as asked, and yet you dared to cause such a massacre, knowing that I would arrive soon after?'', Titan raged, but showed no emotion on his face, trying to appear impassive to his opponent.
Thanatos smiled even wider than before, however, there was nothing happy or exciting about that grin. No, to be exact, it gave such an unsettling feeling, that even Titan shuddered slightly at the sight of that scene.
''See from my perspective a little, please. I invited you to come here some time ago, and thy all-mighty Titan took a while to arrive'', shrugged as he said this. ''I got bored and decided to play around with the refugee camp a little bit, thee see. Occupational Hazard that thou took; a pity, isn't it?''
''You crazy bastard! You are that strong and will continue to use your gifts for evil deeds, even in the apocalypse?!''
Titan didn't wait for any response from the opponent, shooting himself straight, faster than a bullet as he grabbed Thanatos by the collar with extreme violence. Regardless of being surprised by his opponent's lack of reaction, the hero didn't care even a little about it, as he threw four punches with as much physical force as his body could exercise.
His eyes didn't move from position, meeting Thanatos's repeatedly during those 3 seconds that had passed since the battle started, and therefore, Titan was able to follow the trajectory that his enemy's body took along the way; having been knocked down by the impact of the previous attacks.
''KUGH!'', the man targeted by the strikes grunted in pain as his body hit the hard asphalt pavement of the refugee city.
Thanatos had fallen on his stomach and couldn't afford to continue in that disadvantageous position for himself, yet didn't move a finger to show he was going to get up. Meanwhile, Titan did not miss the opportunity that his enemy gave him with the disinterest expressed, setting out once more towards the man, eyes glowing fiercely and fists covered with whitish, translucent energy.
He touched the adversary, causing the entire ground to shake with an earthquake that was caused by his tremendous and inhuman strength. The hero expected Thanatos to fight back, or that it was all just part of some plan the villain had devised earlier, but the masked man just remained on the ground as the attack crumbled some of his bones, causing him to spit blood in heaps.
''Where?''
Said the hero, as he nimbly rose from the rubble that littered the whole area. Looking for Thanatos, who had disappeared from his sight due to the cloud of dust that covered all vision.
Found it in front of him, all bloodied, holding a strange device in his left hand -- a strange kind of greenish energy glowed from the tip with an opening in the device, making Titan alert as he didn't know what it was.
''Why? Why are you doing this? Where did it all go wrong, Elric?'', Titan exclaimed, gathering translucent energy around his arms once more. ''We were friends, I remember that time very well! So simply, why? Why did you have to take this course in your life? Why did you become this... this thing you are now?"'
Elric, the man who bears the alias of Thanatos, burst out laughing, wetting his lips with blood as he retorted: ''Leon, have you always had this illusion in your head, idiot? You never realized this was all because of my personal grievances, and you still dare say we were friends?''
The masked man coughed a few times, and continued then his speech.
I suffered; subjected to hell itself; abandoned, as well as exiled, and you come with this justice bullshit on me, after everything I've had to go through, and after everything you've done to the damn world!''
He gripped his belly, knowing he was close to death but still continuing to yell at his opponent.
"You and those lunatics who walked this path of peace called yourselves heroes, though you were as mad as I and my companions! They slaughtered an entire continent, under the guise of justice... taking orders from those prophets, and look where all this shit has gotten us now. So, after all, being mentally ill wasn't something that got in my way, it's actually my true gift given to me by the gods since my birth."
Leon opened and closed his mouth several times, trying to formulate an adequate response to the outburst of his former friend; now his greatest enemy. The youth hesitated for the first time in those last few years, he didn't know how to talk to Elric, but made a risky attempt, bringing up things he wished that get erased from his mind a long time ago.
"That was in the name of saving countless other lives, it was not unjustifiable", replied nonchalantly; the air and space fluttering and distorting under the pressure caused by the cluster of energy coming from him and Elric. "Since Sophie's death, I've sworn to the world that I would do anything for the survival of my people. Of my kingdom and of those I once loved. Thinking of helping and saving lives other than mine. Hero is just a stigma, a title I used to achieve things I never thought were possible. I will never, ever give up on this. And with you, Elric, is by no means an exception!"
Thanatos for the first time showed visible emotion in her facial expression. He was in disbelief at what the hero had just said aloud to him. Therefore, the lad believed that it couldn't be more than a joke, but the seconds ticked by, and soon after he realized that it was all true.
''puHAHAHTAT! The great hero of myths, Leon Hargreeves - the incomparable Titan -, wants to save me again?!'', said mockingly, feeling his arm already turning raw from the power that the energy exuded.
"Of course, I want to save you, Elric, but...", Titan's hand glowed brightly as he condensed all the energy into a single specific point. ''Death is the only salvation I can give you!''
Elric followed suit and quickly repeated the same process that Titan had done, although he did it with the help of the machine developed in his private lab some time ago.
''Well, looks like we finally agreed on something... See you in hell.''
The translucent energy of both coalesced into one, being shot like a laser in a straight line without a gap. The things that had been hit disappeared like nothing, and the whole place looked like it was about to collapse as the shots got closer and closer to each other.
''Give my regards to the others, Leon.''
As soon as the two collided, a cloud of extreme dust rose from the floors, obscuring anything that was in sight. A flash of light took over the place, and would likely have blinded anyone the moment they saw it, though no one would have that problem, given that an explosion as big as a nuclear bomb accompanied the shock of the energetic shots.
On that fateful day, the strongest hero and the most powerful villain died.
But, to the world's unhappiness, and Elric's fortune, that was not the end of his journey.
It was just the beginning of his new journey.